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Each year, amateur radio operators in Hawaii participate in the annual Simulated Emergency Test or SET. The national organization ARRL sponsors it for the first Saturday in October. The exercise in 2011 will be conducted on Saturday, October 1, 2010 9:00 am - 12 noon HST. The scenario for 2011 is a tsunami exercise, simulating the arrival of two destructive tsunamis from a 9.0 Moment earthquake.

These are the arrangements underway within the amateur radio community in preparation for participating in the exercise. If you know of any, please contact Ron Hashiro, AH6RH

Enjoy, and feel free to drop me an e-mail if you have any questions.


Saturday, October 1, 2011 Net Timeline

September 16, 2011

The timeline for the net on Saturday, October 1, 2011 from 9:00 am to 12 noon is:

  • 9:00 am, start of net. Announce net preamble, read SET Bulletin Alpha, take check-ins, start message handling. When checking in, please give (a) your location, (b) whether you are able to operate with emergency power, (c) served agencies that you are in contact with during the SET net and (d) whether you're newly licensed since 2007. The information is summarized and reported to ARRL at the conclusion of the exercise. See ARRL Field Service Form A for more details.
  • 9:30 am, read SET Bulletin Bravo.
  • 9:45 am, arrival of the simulated first tsunami. Read SET Bulletin Charlie. Receive initial inundation and damage reports via tactical messaging.
  • 10:00 am, Read SET Bulletin Delta. Receive damage reports and requests for assistance via ICS-213 messaging.
  • 10:45 am, arrival of the simulated second tsunami. Read SET Bulletin Echo. Receive initial inundation and damage reports via tactical messaging.
  • 11:00 am, Read SET Bulletin Foxtrot. Receive damage reports and requests for assistance via ICS-213 messaging.
  • 11:45 am, prepare to close the net and pass reports. Report (a) the number of formal 3rd party written traffic messages originated or delivered during the SET on behalf of served agencies, (b) the number of minutes spent conducting TACTICAL communications on behalf of served agencies.
  • 12 noon, close net

For the first 15 minutes after each of the simulated waves, amateurs pass tactical messages reporting inundation and material damage reports. Tactical messaging gives the maximum amount of inundation reports in the shortest amount of time. BE SURE to BEGIN AND END each tactical message with "THIS IS AN EXERCISE MESSAGE".

Then, for the 45 minutes after that, practice exchanging ICS-213 messages filing formal damage reports and requests for assistance. With two waves, that would provide two hours of generated traffic. BE SURE to BEGIN AND END each ICS-213 message with "THIS IS AN EXERCISE MESSAGE".

A MS Word version of the net preamble and bulletins is available.

A PDF version of the net preamble and bulletins is available.

SET 2011 Nets in Hawaii
Agency
HF
VHF
UHF
Hawaii SCD 3993.5, 5330.5, 7088 147.06+ 444.35+
Healthcomm 3888,5371.5,7080 147.280+ 443.775+ pl 123.0, 444.775+ pl 123.0
DEM 7088 146.88-, 146.98- 448.70-
Maui County Simplex Frequencies
Kauai County Simplex Frequencies
APRS 144.39 MHz

State CD RACES/ARES

September 22, 2011

SET 2010 - State CD RACES/ARES participation.

Call signs:
SCD - KH6HPZ

SCD will be on the following frequencies at differing times:

147.060 - DH Repeater - Command/Control/Interisland Operations

444.350 - DH Repeater - Interagency Operations
146.880 - DH Repeater - for interoperation with Oahu DEM RACES

Initial contact will be made on the 147.060 repeater. Stations will then be moved to another frequency, if possible, to handle traffic.

HF will also be used as follows to communicate with SCD and to exercise NVIS.

SCD will be on the SCD interisland net, depending on propagation:
40m on 7088 kHz LSB (+/- qrm)
60m on 5330.5 kHz USB (+/- qrm)
80m on 3993.5 kHz LSB (if 40m is not open)

Messages will be exchanged in ICS-213 message format. A major part of this exercise is to gain experience in sending and receiving ICS-213 messages. Stations are encouraged to generate and send test messages for the exercise. All stations will use "THIS IS AN EXERCISE MESSAGE" at the beginning and end of all messages.

Net Schedule:
Saturday (10/2) @ 0900 - 1200 HST KH6HPZ

Oahu RACES

October 1, 2011

SET 2011 - Oahu DEM RACES participation.

The DEM EOC in the basement of the Frank Fasi Municipal Building will be operational. New

Net Schedule:
9:00 am - KH6OCD

DEM will be on the following frequencies:

146.880- DH Repeater - Command/Control
146.98- FFMB Repeater - Traffic

As a learning aid, Jeff AH6IX makes available an ICS-213 message generator which generates practice ICS-213 messages. New

Maui ARES/RACES

September 30, 2011

SET 2011 - Maui ARES/RACES participation.

The Maui (Wailuku) EOC will be operational. New

More information is contained in the Communicator, the bulletin for Maui ARES/RACES. New

Hilo ARES/RACES

September 30, 2011

SET 2011 - Hilo ARES/RACES participation.

The Hilo EOC will be operational. New

Healthcomm

September 28, 2010

SET 2011 - Healthcomm participation.

Call signs:
Healthcomm - KH6HC

Healthcomm will be on HF on Saturday, October 1 for the monthly Healthcomm HF net: New
40m on 7080 kHz LSB (+/- qrm) Primary
60m on 5371.5 kHz USB (+/- qrm) Alternate
80m on 3888 kHz LSB (if 40m is not open) Alternate

Healthcomm will be on UHF on Monday, October 3 for the monthly siren check net. New
147.280 - Hawaii Medical Center-West Repeater
443.775+ pl 123.0
443.825
444.775+ pl 123.0

For SET, Healthcomm will run a modified Healthcomm monthly HF net. Participants will exchange messages with information on the point-of-contact within the hospital involved during times of emergencies. Also, messages with information on the arrangements for emergency power will be exchanged. New

Digital Messaging Nets

September 17, 2011

For those working with digital messaging and developing nets to handle SET traffic in digital mode, please contact these points-of-contact to coordinate and develop the effort.

Bonus SET Education and Training Session on Oahu

September 23, 2011

An extra SET Education and Training Session on Oahu will be held at Hawaii State Civil Defense EOC in Diamond Head crater on Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 10:30 am to 12 noon. The session will give an overview of SET; go over the scenario, net preamble and bulletins; provide education and training on tactical messaging; and provide education and training on exchanging formal messages using the ICS-213 format. New

Seating is limited to 25. Talk-in frequency is 147.06+ MHz, PL 103.5. If you're interested, contact Ron at this email address. New

The session will be conducted by Clem KH7HO and Ron AH6RH as an educational outreach of ARRL, ARES, DEM RACES, EARC and SCD RACES. New

A separate session was held at the monthly DEM RACES meeting on Monday, Sept 26 by Clem KH7HO, Ron AH6RH and Kevin AH6QO as an educational outreach of ARRL, ARES, DEM RACES, EARC and SCD RACES. New

Background to SET in Hawaii

September 17, 2011, updated September 23, 2011

From Steve Ewald, WV1X

The ARRL Simulated Emergency Test is a nationwide exercise in emergency communications, administered by ARRL Field Organization Leaders including Emergency Coordinators, District Emergency Coordinators, Section Emergency Coordinators and Net Managers. Many other Section Leaders like the Section Manager and the Section Traffic Manager may have a hand in planning the exercises and/or reviewing the results. Amateur Radio Emergency Service © (ARES©), National Traffic System (NTS), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and other public-service oriented groups can be involved. The SET weekend gives communicators the opportunity to focus on the emergency-communications capability within your community while interacting with NTS nets. Although the main SET weekend this year is October 1 and 2, local and section-wide exercises may be held throughout the fall season. New

During September, the ARRL is among dozens of organizations and agencies taking part in National Preparedness Month. "The Ready Campaign," produced by the Ad Council in partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is aimed at making citizen preparedness "a priority for every city, every neighborhood and every home" in the US. The ARRL encourages you to consider this year's Simulated Emergency Test and preparations for it as a demonstration of Amateur Radio's readiness and as an active participant in National Preparedness Month. http://www.ready.gov/, http://www.ready.gov/america/npm10/index.html New

Purpose of SET

As you conduct your Simulated Emergency Test, please keep these overall purposes in mind: New

  1. To find out the strengths and weaknesses of ARES, NTS, RACES and other groups in providing emergency communications.
  2. To provide a public demonstration--to served agencies such as the American Red Cross, the emergency management agency and through the news media--of the value to the public that Amateur Radio provides, particularly in time of need.
  3. To help radio amateurs gain experience in communications using standard procedures and a variety of modes under simulated-emergency conditions. New

Format

The scoring format reflects broad objectives and encourages use of digital modes for handling high-volume traffic and point-to-point Welfare reports out of the affected simulated- disaster area. Participants will find SET an opportunity to strengthen the VHF-HF link at the local level, thereby ensuring that ARES and NTS are working in concert. The SET will give all levels of NTS the chance to handle exercise-related traffic. The guidelines also recognize tactical traffic on behalf of served agencies. New

ARES units and other groups are free to conduct their emergency exercises anytime between September and December if an alternative date is preferred. The activity period should not exceed 48 hours. New

After the SET

An important post-SET activity is a critique session to discuss the test results. All ARES (and RACES) members should be invited to the meeting to review good points and weaknesses apparent in the drill. Emphasize ways to improve procedures, techniques, and coordination with all groups involved. Report your group's effort using the appropriate forms and include any photos, clippings and other items of interest. New

Please send those SET reporting forms and photographs with captions and photo credit to your Section Emergency Coordinator, Section Manager, and/or Section Traffic Manager (for Net Manger SET reports) and to ARRL Headquarters via mailto:[email protected]. If you mail them to ARRL via the postal service, the address is: ARRL Headquarters, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT06111-1494. February 1, 2012, is the receipt deadline. New

One of the first steps on the way to a successful SET is to try to get as many people involved as possible-- and especially new hams. In a real emergency, we find amateurs with all sorts of varied interests coming out of the woodwork. Let's get them involved in SET so they will know more about how emergency communications should be handled. Promote SET on nets and repeaters, and sign up new, enthusiastic radio amateurs. Many of those offering to help will be inexperienced in public-service activities. New

It's up to you to explain what's going on to them, and provide them with useful roles. They may like it so much that they become a permanent fixture in your ARES or NTS group. For a review of last year's nationwide Simulated Emergency Test, read the article in July 2011, QST. New

Thank you for your efforts! New

From Ron Hashiro, AH6RH

SET is an ARRL-sponsored event that exercises the amateur radio community's ability to respond to emergency conditions. In a sense, it's like Field Day in that Field Day exercises the amateur radio community's ability to relocate operations from the home out to an outdoor setting. SET encourages amateur radio operators to send and receive messages with and on behalf of served agencies (agencies that hams partner with to provide communications services and manpower during times of emergencies) that simulate emergency-like scenarios. As in Field Day, not every ham can participate in the desired fashion (which is ok), so amateurs can still interact with field units from the home, mobile, EOCs, etc. Similarly for SET, every ham who is not at a served agency can participate from home or their current location by passing messages with content about simulated emergencies.

The interaction and participation of served agencies is encouraged. The relationship and level of activity/response for SET is a case-by-case situation between the served agency and the amateurs serving the agency. If representatives of the served agencies are present and able to generate the SET messages, that is the desired participation. If they are unable to participate, or are unable to generate the exercise messages ahead of time, then it is an opportunity lost. The amateurs would then for this exercise generate replacement messages on their behalf.

Notice that ARRL at the national level does not set the scenario, schedule and frequencies/nets used. That is determined by the ARRL field organization (ie, amateurs in the EC, DEC, SEC field organization - volunteer Emergency Coordinator, District Emergency Coordinator, Section Emergency Coordinator).

So the field organization of ARRL is making the event available in Hawaii. It's up to individual amateurs to engage and participate, and to encourage the served agencies to participate. Just as Field Day is "scored", SET is also scored. Look at Form A "EC Simulated Emergency Test Report", Form B "Net Manager Simulated Emergency Test Report" and Form C "EC Annual Report" on this web page. Please e-mail your SET summaries to ARRL Headquarters via [email protected]. If you mail them to ARRL via the postal service, the address is: ARRL Headquarters, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT06111-1494. February 1, 2012, is the receipt deadline. New

Traditionally, only about 25% of the amateur radio operators in Hawaii checking in for SET on the general nets are positioned at the served agencies. The remaining 75% are checking in from home and participating as individuals as opposed to checking in on behalf of served agencies. The analogy would be having Field Day, and 25% of the activity is from Field Day stations, and 75% is from hams at home. Typically for Field Day, 95+% of the activity from stations are from the Field Day sites as reported by the "nA" and "nB" class reports given by the stations. So, for SET, I'm expecting roughly 25% of the traffic to resemble served agency traffic, and 75% to be random SET traffic (messages exchanged) with the NCS generating low level query and response messages with individuals if the individuals generate the traffic.

SET 2011 Results

November 12, 2011

The Emergency Coordinator and Net Manager reports for State Civil Defense are complete. The reports are:

Find out more by contacting:  rhashiro(remove this part)@hawaiiantel.net
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Updated: November 12, 2011

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